Teamwork in virtual reality spaces: the most innovative solution

Companies discover in virtual reality collaborative environments an effective tool to advance their projects

Teleworking has transformed our homes overnight into improvised coworking spaces. And in this space, videoconferencing is one of the new digital habits. Virtual reality is the new collaborative space that enables us to attend in person and interact with others without having to move physically. Collaborative virtual reality shortens the distance between the company and its stakeholders and is the most innovative solution in fields such as training, project development or events, but to name a few.

Cisco Webex, Google Hangout (free), Google Meet (paid, linked to Google Suite), Skype and most recently Zoom are some of the names of the video conferencing systems to which millions of people connect every day to get their jobs done or attend school.

Many companies have already purchased licenses for these solutions and use them regularly. Notwithstanding, these video conferencing tools are only geared to voice communications, one-to many dynamics, or at most, to sharing a single PowerPoint presentation. Video conferencing cannot overcome many of the limitations and inconveniences imposed by physical distance.

Virtual reality does however, enabling companies to coordinate remote projects and human resources in real time. It is a perfect solution for creating and bringing together work teams across departments and various company headquarters or connect the company with its suppliers and customers as well as to continue business activities in which the presence in situ of those attending and/or interaction and collaboration is desired.

Virtual reality collaborative environments overcome the limitations of video conferencing and allow companies to coordinate remote projects and human resources in real time

There are already almost a hundred collaborative tools on the market. Some use Virtual Reality (VR), others Augmented Reality (AR) or a combination of virtual reality and augmented reality through Mixed Reality (MR). All three technologies are grouped under the concept of Extended Reality (XR).

These new tools can add to the reality of the physical space in which we are located new objects and space created by computers. They add ‘the virtual’ to tangible reality to engender a new reality enriched with scenarios, stories and characters that physically do not possess mass but do exist. A reality that extends beyond physical limits.

Virtual environments are added to tangible reality to create a reality enriched with scenarios, stories and characters that physically do not possess mass but do exist

What is a virtual room?

It is a virtual space, generated in the cloud by a software platform. Virtual space is really just that: a space that can take different forms depending on the final use for which it is intended, such as an assembly hall with a stage, a classroom, a meeting room, an operating theatre, a television set, a fashion show, a tennis court…your imagination is the limit.

Virtual reality thus adds new dimensions to tangible reality with scenarios, stories and characters that perhaps do not possess mass but do exist. Users can interact with each other in real time and even manipulate the objects they find in the virtual room. Reality extends beyond physical limits.

What is virtual space used for?

The uses of a virtual space are as varied as the needs that give rise to the spaces themselves. A virtual space can be used to bring together a group of professionals to discuss in real time various issues, whether it is a new medicine, the tax policy of a multinational, reviewing the design of a turbine, the guidelines of a fashion collection, and even being able to provide training in the operation of certain machinery.

What do we find inside a virtual collaborative space?

In addition to the appearance and decoration that the virtual space may acquire to adapt to the specific needs of the company promoting it, the users of the virtual space can introduce all the digital assets they wish.

As in any computer, you have our own folder in which you can upload the files that may be useful for a virtual meeting, be it as speakers, attendees, or collaborators. You can include images, videos, sound files, text documents, spreadsheets, pictures or even elements created with 3D design programs. And, depending on your professional activity you can also host 3D buildings, digital replicas of oil refineries, rockets and spacecrafts, aircraft engines, etc. Anything we can imagine. On top, these objects could be represented in virtual space on any scale, from miniature models to actual size.

How do you access a virtual collaborative space?

The virtual room is accessed through a virtual reality viewer. The viewer is the device that the user places on his head covering his eyes. It is slightly larger than a mobile phone and, in the inside, it has two binocular lenses (like binoculars) through which we can see a screen divided into two halves which produce stereoscopic images. This means that each eye sees a slightly different image such that when both images are combined in our brain they provide us with 3D depth perception.

What do you see in a collaborative virtual space?

Besides the virtual room and its decoration we see ourselves and the rest of attendees as avatars.

The avatar is the representation of a user’s body in virtual reality, usually captured from the waist up an floating in space. The avatars show the position that each user occupies in that shared virtual space so that all users can see each other.

Each user is synchronized in real time with their avatar. In the virtual room, the avatar reproduces the very same movements that the user is makes remotely with his head (where the viewer is placed) and hands (where he has the controls). Other attendees in the room can see the movements and gestures made by other users. The voice of each user emanates in a realistic form, according to the position of his avatar in the room (closer or farther away).

Sounds like something you’d want for your company, right?

La Frontera VR is a pioneering Spanish company in the development of a platform for collaborative virtual reality called VR Meeting Point. It has already been successfully implemented by its clients, among which there are pharmaceutical laboratories, banks, manufacturers of the industrial sector and service companies. If you are interested or would like further information, please contact them via WhatsApp at [+34] 607 997 284